


sweets for the sweet

by Anonymous



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, F/M, First Kiss, Rebelcaptain Valentine Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 13:02:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13682229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It's a simple late night grocery run, until Jyn notices an interesting way to save money...





	sweets for the sweet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sighclops](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sighclops/gifts).



> Written as a gift for **sighclops** (aka [halflunar](http://halflunar.tumblr.com)) in the 2018 Rebelcaptain Valentine's Day exchange. 
> 
> I didn't have time to create a full box of chocolates, so please accept this as the equivalent of one hand-crafted truffle instead: small but (hopefully) sweet and to your taste.

Something about the buzzing fluorescent lights and chilled air of a late-night grocery store always mesmerizes Cassian. It’s a little spooky, the way there’s no-one else around except a few cashiers and people stocking shelves. 

And Jyn, who takes advantage of the quiet to try and talk him into cart races down the empty aisles.

Their class and work schedules overlap to such an extent that the only time he gets to spend with his best friend and roommate these days is on middle of the night grocery runs. When he got home from his closing shift at the coffee shop, their fridge was bare, and Jyn had walked in fifteen minutes later from her study group meeting to find him staring into the humming emptiness as though food would magically appear. 

“Come on, Cassian,” she’d said, taking his jacket off the hook and holding it out to him. “The megamart beckons.”

So here they are in the liminal space of brightly-lit but deserted aisles. Cassian yawns until his jaw cracks, which reminds him that they need more coffee beans. He steers the lopsided, wobbling cart into the next aisle and spends a moment doing division in his head to figure out the cheapest brand. Payday isn’t until next week and the rent has just come out of Jyn's account, so they won't be buying any luxury items on this shopping trip.

Just then, Jyn skids around the corner with a package of his favourite (and expensive) cookies. She grabs a bag of dark roast espresso beans and throws it in the cart too.

“We can’t afford those,” Cassian sighs.

“Wait and see,” she says cryptically, a sly grin flickering across her mouth. Cassian looks away, because it’s not really fair that she can be so beautiful at one in the morning under harsh lighting. He’s exhausted and his head is fuzzy and that means the thoughts of how he’d really like to be more than friends with Jyn are more insistent than usual. He shakes his head to dislodge them and turns down the next aisle as she darts away. 

This is their usual shopping system: Cassian travels up and down the aisles in methodical order, and Jyn races back and forth finding things he’s forgotten and dumping them in their cart. Like a lot of things about their friendship, it might not seem logical from the outside, but in fact it works very well. He’s just about to turn around to get some frozen strawberries for smoothies when Jyn drops a big bag of them on top of the pile. 

“How much is that?” he objects. “Get the smaller size.”

“You know it’s cheaper to buy in bulk, Cassian.” Jyn’s still smiling that secretive smile, and if Cassian wasn’t so tired and sleep-deprived he'd probably be worried.

Then they turn the corner of the last aisle and arrive at the front of the store with its ranks of empty checkout stations—and a glaring pink banner overhead that says something about “Sharing the Love.”

“See?” Jyn nudges him with her elbow and points up at the sign. “It’s a Valentine’s Day promotion, I noticed the poster when we came in. All we have to do is kiss and we get twenty percent off the whole bill!”

“No,” Cassian groans. “No way.” They can’t be serious. Is that even legal? 

“Come on, you cheapskate, this is like free money. You’d kiss Bodhi for twenty percent off!”

She has a point—he would. But he can’t very well tell her that he’d happily kiss Bodhi, or Kay or Chirrut or anyone else, just because it wouldn’t mean a thing. Kissing Jyn is something that’s featured in his daydreams and (to be totally honest) his fantasies for a while now. Doing it to save money on groceries is so pathetic he’s not sure he’d ever recover. 

“You want the Valentine's discount?” the bored cashier asks as he starts scanning the items moving down the conveyor belt.

“Absolutely!” Jyn’s bright smile is a little manic. 

Cassian looks down at her lips, imagining what they might feel like against his, and balks again. “Do we really have to kiss?” he asks. 

“Hey man, I don’t care.” The cashier shrugs. “I’d give you the discount anyway, but the manager’s right over there.” He jerks his head sideways at the customer service kiosk where there is indeed an older man watching the two of them and frowning.

Jyn tugs at his sleeve. “It won’t be that bad.” Her eyes are wide and laughing, but there’s a hint of hurt there that worries Cassian. That’s what convinces him in the end; he doesn’t want her to get the wrong idea and think that he doesn’t want to kiss her at all, when the truth is he wants it too much. 

Best to get it over with as quickly as possible. He leans down and presses his lips to Jyn’s in what’s supposed to be a chaste, meaningless peck. But she’s just opened her mouth again (probably to keep arguing) and so he tastes the soft sweetness of her. 

He pulls back almost instantly, but the damage has been done. She takes a deep breath and her eyelids lower so that he can’t see anything but the shadow of her lashes and her smudged makeup. He has no idea what she’s thinking. The shrill _beeeep_ of the cash register startles them and Cassian jumps away from her side, fumbling to get his wallet out of his pocket. 

He pays and they bag the groceries together in awkward silence. Cassian can’t manage to process what just happened. Jyn kissed him so easily, almost nonchalantly. Does that mean anything? Jyn doesn’t really do casual physical affection; Cassian knew they were real friends the first time she crossed the invisible line between them on the couch and threw her legs over his. On the other hand, if kissing him meant something to her too, would she have suggested it so lightly?

His head is still spinning as they cross the deserted parking lot. Jyn opens the creaking hatch of her rusty little Toyota and they load the bags in on auto-pilot. When Cassian reaches up to close the door, his hand lands on top of Jyn’s and they both startle.

He doesn’t pull away, though. He takes her cold hand and presses it between both of his, holding the knot of their tangled fingers to his chest as his heartbeat stumbles and thunders into a gallop. The cat’s out of the bag now, isn’t it? He might as well say it. 

“That wasn’t really how I wanted to kiss you for the first time.” His voice is too loud in the quiet night air.

“It wouldn’t have been my first choice either.” Jyn’s hands twist, but instead of breaking free, turn to clasp his. “But it’ll make a good story. And think how proud Kay will be of you for having a logical reason to do it.”

“Is there ever a logical reason to kiss someone? Other than just wanting to?” He slides his tongue nervously over his dry lips. "Because I do. Want to."

Jyn smiles brilliantly. She slides her palms up his chest and links her hands behind his neck, pulling herself up to his mouth. They kiss and kiss under the stuttering yellow lights of the parking lot—until he remembers the strawberries thawing in the trunk of her car.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you were wondering, yes, this discount does exist! ohbeeone mentioned that a local grocery store was running such a promotion, which sparked this premise.


End file.
